The fascinating story of the ten plagues is
linked inseparably to the life of Moses, the deliverer of the Hebrews. Moses
was the son of a Hebrew. Long before Moses was born, the Hebrews were attacked
and made slaves by the mighty ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh Rameses II. Once, the
Pharaoh Rameses I ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed. To save her
newborn child, Moses' mother hid him in a basket, and floated it into the
river. He was found by the queen who took pity on the newborn baby. Moses
ended up being brought up into the Egyptian royal family, his identity unknown
to them. On reaching adulthood, he came to know of his identity. Angered by
the brutal treatment meted out to the people of his race, he killed an
Egyptian slave master in a fit of rage. To avoid punishment, he escaped to the
desert, joined a group of shepherds and became a shepherd himself. One night,
he was imparted supernatural powers by God and commanded to be a deliverer of
the Hebrews. Moses returned to Egypt with his elder brother Aaron and
approached Pharaoh Rameses II, son of the previous Pharaoh. He delivered to
the Pharaoh God's demand that the Israelite slaves be allowed to leave Egypt
for 3 days for the purpose of observing a holiday of worship and prayer for
their God. When the Pharaoh refused, Moses and Aaron went away to return again
the following morning. They showed him a miraculous sign of warning - Aaron's
staff turned into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers, using trickery, performed
the same feat, but Aaron's serpent turned back into a staff after swallowing
the staffs of the magicians (Exodus 5:1 - 5:9, 7:8 - 7:13).

The Pharaoh, however, remained unimpressed. He refused to read the signs. His
refusal brought to the land of Egypt the famous ten plagues, an account of
which is found in the chapters 7-12 of Exodus. The following is a summary of
the Biblical account.

First Plague: The Nile waters Turn to Blood (7:14 - 7:25)

The first plague was the turning of the waters of the river Nile into blood.
The Nile, the river of Egypt, was the Egyptians idol. The Nile's waters
nourished the land and determined the welfare of all the people. God
instructed Moses to tell Aaron to extend his staff over the river Nile; all of
its water turned into blood. As a result of the blood, the fish of the Nile
died, filling Egypt with an awful stench. Other water resources used by the
Egyptians were turned to blood as well. Pharaoh's sorcerers demonstrated that
they too could turn water to blood, and so the Pharaoh made no concession to
Moses' demands.

Second Plague: The frogs (8:1-16)

The second plague of Egypt was the coming of frogs in droves. God commanded
Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his staff over the water, and hordes of frogs
came and overran Egypt. In the Egyptian mythology, frogs represented the
goddess of fertility, Isis, that was supposed to help women in childbirth. But
the frog that symbolized life was left to be raked in heaps of rotting piles
of death.

Pharaoh's sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with their magic.
However, since they were unable to remove it, Pharaoh was forced to grant
permission for the Israelites to leave so that Moses would agree to remove the
frogs. To prove that the plague was actually a divine punishment, Moses let
Pharaoh choose the time that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day,
and all the frogs died the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his
permission, and the Israelites stayed in Egypt.

Third Plague: The Lice (8:12 - 8:15)

The third plague of Egypt was Kinim, variously translated as Gnats, Lice or
Fleas. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and strike at the
dust, which turned into a mass of gnats that the Egyptians could not get rid
of. The Egyptian sorcerers declared that this act was "the Finger of
God", since they were unable to reproduce its effects with their magic.

Fourth Plague: The Flies (8:16 - 8:28)

The fourth plague of Egypt was the coming of flies in swarms, capable of
harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that the arov (swarm or
mixture) only came against the Egyptians, and that it did not affect the Land
of Goshen (where the Israelites lived). The stinging, disease-carrying flies
ruined the land. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to
allow the Israelites to worship God in the wilderness. However, after the
plague was gone, the Pharaoh again refused to keep his promise.

Fifth Plague: Pestilence - The Disease of Livestock (9:1 - 9:7)

The fifth plague of Egypt was an epidemic disease which exterminated the
Egyptian livestock; that is, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats.
The Egyptians made the Hebrews poor and so God caused great loss to the
Egyptians. This disease afflicted only the Egyptian livestock. The Israelites'
cattle were unharmed. Once again, the Pharaoh was obstinate and made no
concessions.

Sixth Plague: The Boils (9:8 - 9:12)

The sixth plague of Egypt was 'Shkhin'. The 'Shkhin' was a kind of skin
disease, usually translated as "boils". When the death of their
cattle didn't convince the Egyptians, God commanded Moses and Aaron to each
take two handfuls of soot from a furnace, which Moses sprinkled up toward
heaven in Pharaoh's presence. The soot induced festering 'Shkhin' eruptions on
Egyptian men and livestock. In ancient Egypt, sores in the body were looked
upon as punishment for sin, a means by which to call one to repentance. None
of the Hebrews had any boils. All the Egyptians, including the sorcerers were
afflicted, and were unable to heal themselves.

Seventh Plague: The Hailstorm (9:13 - 9:35)

The seventh plague of Egypt was a destructive storm. God commanded Moses to
give all the Israelites a one-day warning before this plague. The notice was
given because the sorcerers of Egypt were also agricultural shamans who
supposedly controlled the weather. Those who feared the Lord went into shelter
(showing us that God had mercy on some of the Egyptians). Then, by God's
order, Moses stretched his staff skyward and immediately the storm commenced.
It was even more evidently supernatural than the previous plagues, a powerful
shower of hail intermixed with fire. There was ice and fire mingled with the
hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all of the land of
Egypt. The storm heavily damaged Egyptian orchards and crops, as well as men
and livestock. The storm struck all of Egypt except for the Land of Goshen.
Those who did not believe God and took no shelter died in the fields.

Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow the Israelites
to worship God in the desert. As a show of God's mastery over the world, the
hail stopped as soon as Moses began praying to God. However, after the storm
ceased, Pharaoh again "hardened his heart" and refused to keep his
promise.

Eighth Plague: The locusts (10:1 - 10:20)

The eighth plague of Egypt was locusts. Before the plague, God informed Moses
that from that point on He would "harden Pharaoh's heart," so that
Pharaoh would not give in, and the remaining miracles (the final plagues and
the splitting of the Red Sea) would play out.

As with previous plagues, Moses came to Pharaoh and warned him of the
impending plague of locusts. By this time all the Pharaoh's people including
his magicians and advisors began to rebel. Pharaoh stood alone against God.
Pharaoh's officials begged him to let the Israelites go rather than suffer the
devastating effects of a locust-swarm, but he was still unwilling to give in.
He proposed a compromise: the Israelite men would be allowed to go, while
women, children and livestock would remain in Egypt. Moses repeated God's
demand that every last person and animal should go, but Pharaoh refused.

God then had Moses stretch his staff over Egypt, and a wind picked up from the
east. The wind continued all day and night, and brought with it a locust swarm
the following morning. The swarm covered the sky, casting a shadow over Egypt.
Such a locust-swarm had never been seen earlier in the land, nor was it seen
afterwards. It consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops, leaving no tree or
plant standing. Pharaoh again asked Moses to remove this plague and promised
to allow all the Israelites to worship God in the desert. The LORD turned a
mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the
Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

As promised, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not allow the Israelites
to leave once the locusts were off.

Ninth Plague: The Darkness (10:21 - 10:29)

The Egyptians rebelled against the light of God's Word and they were justly
punished with darkness. When the Pharaoh did not heed the warnings brought
home to him by the eighth plague, God punished Egypt with one greater. By
God's order, Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and a thick darkness
set over the land of Egypt. It was a total darkness, a darkness that made
impossible for the Egyptians to see one another, a darkness that remained over
Egypt for three days. But the people of Israel had light where they dwelt.

This plague was an attack on the power of the supreme deity of Egypt, the sun
god Re or Amun-Re. The Egyptians could do nothing but stay in their homes and
witness the power of the God of the Israelites in awe. Even then, the Pharaoh
refused to yield.

Tenth Plague: The Death of the Firstborn (11:1 - 12:36)

The tenth and the last plague was the deadliest of them all. It resulted in
the death of the firstborn of every Egyptian family, including that of the
Pharaoh.

God had hardened the Pharaoh's heart so that, in subjugating the obstinate
ruler, he could demonstrate his powers and glory to mortal beings. He wanted
that his actions be talked about by future generations for all time. So he
foretold Moses, that all the firstborn in the land of Egypt were to die that
very midnight, from the first born of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the
maidservants; and even all the firstborn of the beasts. He ordered Moses to
ask all Israelites to sacrifice a lamb, eat the roasted sacrifice together
with Matzot ("Poor Man's Bread") in a celebratory feast and mark
their doorposts with the lamb's blood. This was to save them from the tenth
and final plague.

As according to God's declaration the tenth great plague passed over Egypt
that night. It was to be the last plague. By Lord's power, every firstborn
male child from each Egyptian family died at midnight. Nothing could be heard
save wails and moans.
Every house of Egypt bewailed its dead. The Pharaoh woke up from his sleep to
find all his family members and servants mourning the death of his beloved
eldest son. None of the firstborns of the beasts were spared either. Yet a
state of calm prevailed over the place where the Israelites dwelled. They were
unharmed by the Lord. The distinction was obvious. Lord was with all those who
obeyed him humbly and crushed all those who opposed them.

The significance of the death of every firstborn in Egypt, from the house of
Pharaoh to the slaves and the livestock, was great. Egypt's destruction was
complete. Smashed were their hopes, and total their defeat. Without any delay,
the Pharaoh summoned Moses and his brother Aaron; he implored them to get out
of the land of Egypt taking all the Israelites with them, whom he had kept as
slaves. He allowed them to take their cattle and even all that they needed in
their safe passage to another land.

As the good word was brought to them, the Israelites made preparations to
leave Egypt immediately for they feared that the Pharaoh might change his mind
and stop them from leaving afterwards. By Moses' order, they took along enough
food and water with them and even borrowed from the Egyptians their jewels of
gold, silver and raiment who obliged readily. Such was the effect of the
Lord's power on their minds that the Egyptians who had until then treated the
Israelites as dirt, paid them respect now. They also feared that they might
incur God's wrath further if the Israelites had to stay back. They lent them
all such things that they required for their journey and wished them a safe
passage.